Before I begin my tangent let me start by saying I am hesitant to even use the term “identity politics.” I feel that the term is used more often than not to silence the voices of women or people of color in leftist spaces when confronting the reality of what it means to be anti racist becomes uncomfortable. That said, I think that there is a staunch difference between liberal identity politics and leftist identity politics.

Leftists acknowledge intersectionalityand use it to improve their analysis so that they may recruit and engage with more people in a more diverse way. Liberals use identity politics totokenize, to excuse their own complacency in white supremacy, and most shallowly to get votes.

This is why I get infuriated when we talk about “the women vote” or “the black vote,” as if anyone who is not a white straight male in our society is of some bizarre kind of hive mind.

Pundits dehumanize LGBTQA+ people when they assume Buttigieg has their votes locked down simply because he is gay.

I hope everyone realizes that is what pundits and politicians are saying when they sayings like “the coveted black women vote.”

They are saying that oppressed groups of voters, such as black people, women, black women are nothing more than who they vote for president and what is worse is the dehumanizing idea that they will all vote for the same person for the same reasons.

When it comes down to discussing the “woman vote” or the “black vote” in the eyes of liberal and conservative pundits you are no longer a collection of individuals, each with your own stories and culture and background and reasoning. No, to them you are simply a part of a demographic, a thing to be used as fodder for politicians and talking heads alike.

They are fucking insulting you and reducing you to an infantile point. We should not stand for this.

Like this:

Recently a video of me from the DSA convention has gone viral and right wing trolls have dug through my website and are publishing screen shots and videos of me, mocking my mental health and my disability.

I am not bothered. I am not hurt by any of this. But by sharing my name, hometown, and social media accounts on their website, Fox News has exposed not only myself but my family to incredible danger.

(TW/CW Ableist and bigoted language)

This above picture is a screen shot of just one of the dozens of messages I have been receiving in the last 24 hours. Some have been rants like this, others have been direct threats on my life.

It would be laughable that Fox News has picked such an insignificant event from the DSA convention and blow it up so much were it not for the fact it has put the safety of all those I care about at risk.

I have since had to deactivate my twitter and instagram because I have received a bombardment of death threats. This has effected my ability to advertise this blog since I was using both of those sites to do that. I now have to be extra intentional about writing posts and sharing my work for my readers to find.

I am not worried about my own safety but about the safety of those I love. I find Fox News and Tucker Carlson’s obsession with me hilarious, but there is nothing funny about how the safety of my friends and relatives are now at risk because of their constant and irresponsible form of coverage.

I am not afraid of the attacks against me. I am only afraid that someone I love may get hurt. Personally, I have never been afraid of bullies. I have never believed in “just ignoring” them so they “go away. ” No, ever since I was a child I have always been one to look my bullies in the eye and say one thing to them, “I am not afraid of you.”

This blog will continue and so will my regular postings. The right wing will never silence me.